Fill it to the rim
The direction of our sermon time in this New Year is being guided by a mnemonic device…a simple memory aid, a word that I hope that we can all use to help us to listen for God as individuals and as a church.
The word is based on the idea that the prophets of God normally suggest that they have experienced a voice of God which called them to gave God’s message to His people.
The word we are using is VOICE and so far we have connected the V to remind us of vision and we were reminded how Jeremiah was sent to watch the potter at work.
The Ideas I shared was that in the visual example was that the potter had a vision for what the clay should become. The clay was simple material in the hands of the creator with no real input to the vision.
In the scripture the clay was marred…imperfections of some kind resisted the potter’s skill and he balled up the clay and made something different….The clay was not discarded however, but the usage of the materials was adapted.
I suggested that as believers we are on the potter’s wheel, we are the clay and whatever our failings, our choices God does not give up on us.
-- Last week we looked at the second letter, O and I related that to openness.
We scanned some snapshots/events from the Gospel of Mark and examined two groups and how open they were to what was happening in and around Jesus.
There were large crowds that were open for a variety of reasons.
Some based on their need.
Some seem to find hope in the message and some may have only been there for the dinner and the show.
Regardless of the basic reason, they were open to the amazing things that were centered on Jesus words and actions.
Then there was another group, religious leaders, Pharisees and Teachers that seem to have been in the crowd but instead of noticing God changing lives with healing and restoration, they were worried about the rules. The seemed to be closed to the amazing and focused on the breaking man centered rules as a sign of a false teacher.
The goal last week was that you would seek God’s help in being open to his movement and not be closed off to go stale or become bitter.
-- Today. I thought we needed to do a little review to get to direction we are looking toward this morning.
This week I am again being very focused on certain scriptures looking of a specific trait to help us to understand an overview of how God attempts to shape and guide us.
Chapter 3 verse 8 in Genesis. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”
This brief mention of God searching for Adam and Eve, after their eating of the forbidden fruit. The approach of God does not sound like a special occurrence. The don’t say what’s that noise?
They hide not because it is unusual but because of their sin. I am led to believe that this kind of visit from God may have been a daily event. It was a way that God chose to interact with creation in general and specifically with the human creatures.
This description hints to me that God took some kind of form with which to interact with them. While not precisely a definition of the word incarnation including conception and birth. I think it indicates that god took on a body or form that offered a tangible presence. I He seems to be predictable expected, and identifiable presence.
The method God used to interact with Adam and eve was disrupted when the creation exercised their ability to make choices independent of God’s vision and plans.
God has always desired an intimate and tangible relationship with his clay creations. An even in Genesis God does not just trash the creation and start over from scratch. He adapts the relationship.
Let’s look at another section of scripture, John chapter 1.
I don’t normally hop over sections of scripture but, to attempt to stay on target I am leaving out where the Gospel of John refers to John the Baptist and how Jesus was creator and how he was received by man.
I am reading, John 1:1,2,14. To focus pm a second description of incarnation:
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The first two verses are profound and concise. I only read it to establish that Jesus is the Word of God, which actually is God himself. So like in Genesis, God is the one present.
He has always existed and yet for a time, verse 14 tells us that He became flesh, took on a body, became human and dwelt among us.
I have always pictured Jesus as really living and interacting with His disciples. I have no real trouble thinking of that kind of closeness.
But as I considered the word incarnation I connected with the word dwelt. I compared several translations. (and took up residence, made his dwelling among us, lived here on earth among us, moved into the neighborhood)
Those generally explained what I felt happened, but I felt a little empty.
So, I dug a little deeper. I found that a more literal translation was to live in a tabernacle among us, to pitch a tent among us.
In that day in time, nomadic people were totally commonplace. They were not a mystery. Some of us have done some camping and experienced pitching and staying tents.
But think about this. In that day, it was a way of life. When someone joined your camp there was a level of openness and trust. There was safety in numbers so travelers made alliances to camp in groups and share the burden of night watchmen and food preparation.
The incarnation is an event where God put on a temporary earthly body and lived with creation.
-- He joined a bunch of campers just trying to get along.
This is what came to my mind, there is no such thing as a sound proof tent.
When I was a boy scout I camped out a lot of times. When you are camped there is not a lot that can go on in a tent around you that you don’t participate in.
You quickly learn who snores, or talks in their sleep.
You know if there is a disagreement between tent mates and you even can hear when someone starts opening up certain kinds of candy wrappers.
From inside of separate tents you can share laughter in the jokes or other adolescent boy humor.
-- God, Jesus dwelt among us, which means that He was locked into a human kind of participation in every aspect of human life and relationship.
He was involved in tiredness, loss, love, anger, laughter.
He experienced the sounds of pain and suffering, in sickness and birth. The sounds of loss and need.
Incarnation – presence is more personal than I normally think of.
It means that there is a direct involvement in betrayal, loss, and disappointment.
So, the incarnation of God within the Human Body named Jesus offered and interactive presence which mankind had not experienced since the Garden of Eden.
Jesus came with a VOICE and instructed those that would listen.
He demonstrated the blessing of God with physical healings to those that reached out.
His physical presence offered direction and a knowledge of God’s expectations in a unique way.
So far we have looked at two examples of how God was incarnated in some fashion.
- In Genesis he came as creator and gave life to man and had an interactive relationship with the first people.
- He entered and exited creation in the eyes of Adam and Eve and they did not understand God’s constant presence.
--- The next example God came as teacher and brother to renew the eternal parent and child relationship that God has always intended.
The real presence of God set up a tent, a human body and lived with His people as a limited person.
-- I have one additional scripture reference this morning.
John 14: 15-17… If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.
We know from the book of Acts that God did send the councilor.
The presence of the Holy Spirit was a powerful occurrence. The spirit not only directed the followers but more importantly empowered them to go place and say things that they felt helpless to do.
The valued their safety and that meant control.
- The progression I want you to see is that God walked with man in Genesis, then God Lived with man in the Gospels and now God can and will live in man.
This week I had a phrase that kept running through my head. I realized it was part of an old TV commercial.
The scene was set with two people talking over some big personal accomplishment, First solo flight or graduation from law school a big sale of some kind.
At a moment like that everyone should, they want a cup of coffee.… and as the cup was being filled… the person would say ONLY half a cup, The response was, I thought you liked fresh brewed coffee….. Oh I do but not the caffeine….
Look, What decaffeinated coffee?….Well if it taste this good, Fill it to the rim, “with Brim.”
The question for all of us to consider today is how long have we been limiting the filling, the refilling of the Holy Spirit.
Are we open to being filled, fully filled?
I won’t ask any of you to answer that question out loud.
But I will tell you that it is not very often that we witness a person in our church that expresses the feeling of flavor or heat or power that seems to come from a person that is filled to the rim With HIM.
I don’t know why we have as individuals and as a church we have allowed our free will to put limits on what we will be and do for God. I don’t know why we really resist being filled except we fear what might happen of we accepted God’s vision and direction without a safety net. What would people think about us…holy rollers …Religious nuts….Jesus Freaks…?
Maybe it is something else. Maybe we are worried about failing God. That out resolve is imperfect, we don’t have the skills, or perhaps we have lost the passion to celebrate the power of the presence of God himself residing within us.
I mentioned last week that I decided to go to a pottery class. I have figured out that working with clay is much more difficult than I thought. So far, I have only started a coffee cup and a bowl and I have quickly determined that in my case the quality of the clay is not my problem it is my level of skill that makes the large cup get smaller and smaller as I mess up the clay and am forced to reshape.
Each time I start again I lose some of the material. My cup is about half the height of and normal cup.
As God is the perfect potter he is doing the shaping and we end up doing the limiting.
We restrict material by not releasing our sin when we are convicted, we resist His healing and restoration.
Ultimately our vessel gets smaller and more limited.
Unfortunately, even after He has brought us to a stage of completion, we still try to limit his usage of us… We limit the filling of the Holy Spirit that is offered to us with each new day.
We rest being filled to the rim because we fear what might happen if we over flow and spill out….
God is only satisfied with a relationship where He is allowed to direct and empower his children in the work of the kingdom.
He offers a filling of the vessels that he has created with the Spirit…With a special essence of himself. A true Christian is a vessel that is uniquely shaped by God and is open to the message and grace.
Folks, God will not give up on us as a church or as individuals.
However, He will also not force us to be filled or refilled. When we lose his presence it is because we have put our spiritual hand over the cup and said not too much…I like the flavor but it is too powerful or too hot for me to handle.
Without the filling of the spirit we only satisfy ourselves with a taste.
We have nothing to share. We have no aroma to entice another person’s appetite. We are empty and unable to offer full flavored warm refreshment to a person that feels empty and unfulfilled.
Folks, we have to more letters that I hope will help you to find ways to hear from God for yourself and for our church.
Remember as you leave here today, I hope that you will listen for God’s offer to warm up your serving of the Holy Spirit.
All Glory be to God!
